Media Release - Australian Competition and Consumers Commission New Car Retailing Market Study Report

The Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) has completed an 18 month Market Study into the New Car Retailing Market and has recommended government intervention in the form of a mandatory scheme.

MTA NSW and other Motor Industry Associations have advocated for critical issues to be investigated and addressed by the ACCC investigation including:

•    Further investigate manufacturer and dealer relationships, and dealer agreements, particularly dealership accountability in consumer guarantee and warranty matters. At present car manufacturers routinely prevent consumers from  exercising choice and their consumer legal rights;
•    Ensure fair and reasonable access and use of technical and repair information for independent mechanical and motor body repairers;
•    Examine concerns surrounding proposed changes to Australian Consumer law definitions of major and minor faults.

The key recommendations include:

•    A mandatory scheme to be introduced for car manufacturers operating in Australia, to share the same repair and service information that they currently share with their authorised dealers and repairers with independent repairers on fair and reasonable commercial terms. This includes: environmental, safety and security-related information where such information is made available to dealers;
•    Repairs and servicing are to be carried out correctly to car manufacturer specifications to ensure the safety of consumers;
•    Recommendations place greater onus on manufacturers and require them to review policies, processes and procedures, including ensuring the inclusion of indemnities for dealers available under the ACL;
•    Further investigation should be undertaken into a range of elements of the commercial relationship between manufacturers and dealers and dealer agreements;
•    The report more properly recognises and places accountability with manufacturers, particularly in regard to consumer guarantees and warranty;
•    There will be new awareness and education materials provided by the ACCC for point of sale to better inform consumers of rights under consumer guarantee and warranty provisions.

There is still clarification needed regarding the definitions that will be applied to minor and major faults and related consumer guarantee matters and further consultation processes are scheduled in 2018.

The released recommendations and actions need to be supported by the Federal Government so they can be implemented and adopted by various levels of Government and the motor industry.

MTA NSW would like to thank Members for their input into these issues and their going support.

Please find for your information the ACCC Independent Repairers’ and Authorised New Car Dealers’ Factsheets.